NEW Motherwell recruit Paul Lawson admits the lure of marital bliss was as much behind his move to Fir Park as much as the pull of European football.

The former Ross County midfielder tied the knot with partner Katie Connelly earlier this month.

And the ex-Celtic youth admits that keeping his other half happy was just as important a factor in agreeing a two-year deal with Stuart McCall's side as the team's forthcoming Europa League campaign.

Lawson said: "The geography of the move played a big part. I got married in the summer so it was a choice made between me and my wife. We wanted to get back down the road and fortunately the manager came in for me.

"Katie is behind me 100 per cent and lets me make my own decisions - but I think she was happy with this one.

"When I moved up to Ross County I was on my own, so I had nobody to worry about. But as you get older, other things come into play and she is one of them. As every guy will tell you, you need to keep them happy.

"I'm excited about signing for Motherwell and the lure of European football was a big factor too."

Lawson - who moved to Fir Park alongside Staggies team-mate Iain Vigurs - met up with the rest of his new colleagues yesterday as Motherwell returned to pre-season training.

But despite a stag-do jaunt to Marbella, the 29-year-old former Scotland Under-21 international is confident he is ready for the hard work that lies ahead.

He added: "I was a bit stressed out during the close season with stag-dos and the rest but you never look forward to pre-season. Do I have more work to do after the stagger? No, I like to think I've done a bit to look after myself.

"No player likes pre-season but when you are moving somewhere new it's exciting."

Now Lawson - who helped County reach the top six in their first ever season in the Scottish Premier League before calling time on his six year stay in Dingwall - is eager to get down to action with his new side, who will learn their Europa League third qualifying round opponents on July 19.

However, he admits matching last season's second-place SPL finish will be a tough task after McCall was forced to wave goodbye to an entire team of players.

Utility man Tom Hateley and last season's top scorer Michael Higdon have both rejected new contracts, while Nicky Law has now moved to Rangers.

Estonian Henrick Ojamaa also left for Polish side Legia Warsaw, keeper Darren Randolph departed for Birmingham and Kallum Higginbotham returned to Huddersfield at the end of his loan stint. Steven Saunders, Omar Daley, Steven Hetherington, Josh Watt and Nicky Devlin, meanwhile, were all released.

"Katie and I went on honeymoon and we made a conscious decision to switch our phones off," Lawson said. "But after a few days I was champing at the bit to get on Twitter and see what signings had been made.

"That was when I started to get the buzz back to get into pre-season training and the new surroundings.

"It's a massive move for me. A few years ago when I left Celtic, I moved down a couple of divisions but I like to think that each year I have progressed as a player. This year is another step up for me and it's a new challenge.

"It's going to be very difficult for the team to match last season. It was always going to be like that.

"It's up to myself and the other new boys who come in to fill the boots of the guys who have left. They did a great job over the past couple of years but it's down to ourselves now.

"Obviously we want to finish as high as we can. Everyone looks at Celtic to be the ones to beat and we want to push them as far as we can.

"Can we get close to them? I don't see why not. You want to enter competitions thinking you can push teams all the way."